Characterizing the Load Environment of Ferry Landings for Washington State Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway System

INE/AUTC 13.0

Cordova Floating Ferry Dock

This study began the evaluation of the Cordova floating ferry dock using the ANSYS AQWA software. The AQWA software models the effects of waves, wind and current on floating structures. Floating bodies are modeled as a point-mass with inertial and hydrostatic characteristics. As part of the study, the critical wave characteristic was defined. During the modeling it was found that AQWA can only model rigid bodies and that the Cordova floats experience a wide range of wave periods and directions. Consequently, AQWA requires adaptation to fully model the ferry dock at Cordova.Table of Contents Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4 Project Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6 Annex A ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8 Annex B ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….15

Late-time observations of the relativistic tidal disruption flare candidate Swift J1112.2-8238

We present late-time follow-up of the relativistic tidal disruption flare candidate Swift J1112.2- 8238. We confirm the previously determined redshift of z = 0.8900±0.0005 based on multiple emission line detections. HST imaging of the host galaxy indicates a complex and distorted morphology with at least two spatially distinct components. These are offset in velocity space by less than 350 km s−1 in VLT/X-Shooter observations, suggesting that the host is undergoing interaction with another galaxy. The transient position is consistent to 2.2σ with the centre of a bulge-like component at a distance of 1.1±0.5kpc from its centre. Luminous, likely variable radio emission has also been observed, strengthening the similarities between Swift J1112.2-8238 and other previously identified relativistic tidal disruption flares. While the transient location is ∼2σ from the host centroid, the disrupted nature of the host may provide an explanation for this. The tidal disruption model remains a good description for these events

Many Roads Lead to Lithium: Formation Pathways For Lithium-Rich Red Giants

Stellar models predict that lithium (Li) inside a star is destroyed during the first dredge-up phase, yet 1.2% of red giant stars are Li-rich. We aim to uncover possible origins of this population, by analysing 1155 Li-rich giants (A(Li) $\geq$ 1.5) in GALAH DR3. To expose peculiar traits of Li-rich stars, we construct a reference sample of Li-normal (doppelg\"anger) stars with matched evolutionary state and fiducial supernova abundances. Comparing Li-rich and doppelg\"anger spectra reveals systematic differences in the H-$\alpha$ and Ca-triplet line profiles associated with the velocity broadening measurement. We also find twice as many Li-rich stars appear to be fast rotators (2% with $v_\textrm{broad} \gtrsim 20$ km s$^{-1}$) compared to doppelg\"angers. On average, Li-rich stars have higher abundances than their doppelg\"angers, for a subset of elements, and Li-rich stars at the base of RGB have higher mean $s-$process abundances ($\geq 0.05$ dex for Ba, Y, Zr), relative to their doppelg\"angers. External mass-transfer from intermediate-mass AGB companions could explain this signature. Additional companion analysis excludes binaries with mass ratios $\gtrsim$ 0.5 at $\gtrsim$ 7 AU. We also discover that highly Ba-enriched stars are missing from the Li-rich population, possibly due to low-mass AGB companions which preclude Li-enrichment. Finally, we confirm a prevalence of Li-rich stars on the red clump that increases with lithium, which supports an evolutionary state mechanism for Li-enhancement. Multiple culprits, including binary spin-up and mass-transfer, are therefore likely mechanisms of Li-enrichment.Comment: 29 pages, 19 figures, 6 tables. Submitted to Ap

WHOOPING CRANE STAY LENGTH IN RELATION TO STOPOVER SITE CHARACTERISTICS

Whooping crane (Grus americana) migratory stopovers can vary in length from hours to more than a month. Stopover sites provide food resources and safety essential for the completion of migration. Factors such as weather, climate, demographics of migrating groups, and physiological condition of migrants influence migratory movements of cranes (Gruidae) to varying degrees. However, little research has examined the relationship between habitat characteristics and stopover stay length in cranes. Site quality may relate to stay length with longer stays that allow individuals to improve body condition, or with shorter stays because of increased foraging efficiency. We examined this question by using habitat data collected at 605 use locations from 449 stopover sites throughout the United States Great Plains visited by 58 whooping cranes from the Aransas–Wood Buffalo Population tracked with platform transmitting terminals. Research staff compiled land cover (e.g., hectares of corn; landscape level) and habitat metric (e.g., maximum water depth; site level) data for day use and evening roost locations via site visits and geospatial mapping. We used Random Forest regression analyses to estimate importance of covariates for predicting stopover stay length. Site-level variables explained 9% of variation in stay length, whereas landscape-level variables explained 43%. Stay length increased with latitude and the proportion of land cover as open-water slough with emergent vegetation as well as alfalfa, whereas stay length decreased as open-water lacustrine wetland land cover increased. At the site level, stopover duration increased with wetted width at riverine sites but decreased with wetted width at palustrine and lacustrine wetland sites. Stopover duration increased with mean distance to visual obstruction as well as where management had reduced the height of vegetation through natural (e.g., grazing) or mechanical (e.g., harvesting) means and decreased with maximum water depth. Our results suggest that stopover length increases with the availability of preferred land cover types for foraging. High quality stopover sites with abundant forage resources may help whooping cranes maintain fat reserves important to their annual life cycle

Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study: common genetic variants in GCK and TCF7L2 are associated with fasting and postchallenge glucose levels in pregnancy and with the new consensus definition of gestational diabetes mellitus from the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups.

OBJECTIVE: Common genetic variants in GCK and TCF7L2 are associated with higher fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes in nonpregnant populations. However, their associations with glucose levels from oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) in pregnancy have not been assessed in a large sample. We hypothesized that these variants are associated with quantitative measures of glycemia in pregnancy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed the associations between variants rs1799884 (GCK) and rs7903146 (TCF7L2) and OGTT outcomes at 24-32 weeks' gestation in 3,811 mothers of European (U.K. and Australia) and 1,706 mothers of Asian (Thailand) ancestry from the HAPO cohort. We also tested associations with offspring birth anthropometrics. RESULTS: The maternal GCK variant was associated with higher fasting glucose in Europeans (P = 0.001) and Thais (P 0.05). In both populations, both variants were associated with higher odds of gestational diabetes mellitus according to the new International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups recommendations (P = 0.001-0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Maternal GCK and TCF7L2 variants are associated with glucose levels known to carry an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome in women without overt diabetes. Further studies will be important to determine the variance in maternal glucose explained by all known genetic variants

Usage Patterns of Stop Smoking Medications in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States: Findings from the 2006–2008 International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey

Varenicline is a new prescription stop smoking medication (SSM) that has been available in the United States since August 1, 2006, in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries since December 5, 2006, in Canada since April 12, 2007, and in Australia since January 1, 2008. There are few population-based studies that have examined use rates of varenicline and other stop smoking medications. We report data from the ITC Four Country survey conducted with smokers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia who reported an attempt to quit smoking in past year in the 2006 survey (n = 4,022 participants), 2007 (n = 3,790 participants), and 2008 surveys (n = 2,735 participants) Respondents reported use of various stop smoking medications to quit smoking at each survey wave, along with demographic and smoker characteristics. The self-reported use of any stop smoking medication has increased significantly over the 3 year period in all 4 countries, with the sharpest increase occurring in the United States. Varenicline has become the second most used stop smoking medication, behind NRT, in all 4 countries since being introduced. Between 2006 and 2008, varenicline use rates increased from 0.4% to 21.7% in the US, 0.0% to 14.8% in Canada, 0.0% to 14.5% in Australia, and 0.0% to 4.4% in the UK. In contrast, use of NRT and bupropion remained constant in each country. Males and non-whites were significantly less likely to report using any SSM, while more educated smokers were significantly more likely to use any SSM, including varenicline. Our findings suggest that the introduction of varenicline led to an increase in the number of smokers who used evidence-based treatment during their quit attempts, rather than simply gaining market share at the expense of other medications. From a public health perspective, messages regarding increased success rates among medication users and the relative safety of stop smoking medications should be disseminated widely so as to reach all smokers of all socioeconomic classifications equally

Rotation of planet-harbouring stars

The rotation rate of a star has important implications for the detectability, characterisation and stability of any planets that may be orbiting it. This chapter gives a brief overview of stellar rotation before describing the methods used to measure the rotation periods of planet host stars, the factors affecting the evolution of a star's rotation rate, stellar age estimates based on rotation, and an overview of the observed trends in the rotation properties of stars with planets.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures: Invited review to appear in 'Handbook of Exoplanets', Springer Reference Works, edited by Hans J. Deeg and Juan Antonio Belmont

Glucose effects on long-term memory performance : duration and domain specificity.

Rational; Previous research has suggested that long term- verbal declarative memory is particularly sensitive to enhancement by glucose loading, however investigation of glucose effects on certain memory domains has hitherto been neglected. Therefore domain specificity of glucose effects merits further elucidation. Objectives; The aim of the present research was to provide a more comprehensive investigation of the possible effects of glucose administration on different aspects of memory by i) contrasting the effect of glucose administration on different memory domains (implicit/ explicit memory; verbal/ non-verbal memory, recognition/ familiarity processes), ii) investigating whether potential effects on memory domains differ depending on the dose of glucose administered (25g versus 60g), iii) exploring the duration of the glucose facilitation effect (assessment of memory performance 35 min and 1 week after encoding). Methods; a double blind, between- subjects design was used to test the effects of administration of 25 and 60g glucose on memory performance. Results; Implicit memory was improved following administration of 60g of glucose. Glucose supplementation failed to improve face recognition performance but significantly improved performance of word recall and recognition following administration of 60g of glucose. However, effects were not maintained one-week following encoding. Conclusions; Improved implicit memory performance following glucose administration has not been reported before. Furthermore the current data tentatively suggest that level of processing may determine the required glucose dosage to demonstrate memory improvement and that higher dosages may be able to exert effects on memory pertaining to both hippocampal and non-hippocampal brain regions

Salinity variations in the northern Coorong Lagoon, South Australia: Significant changes in the ecosystem following human alteration to the natural water regime

European settlement and drought have significantly impacted the hydrology of the Coorong, a shallow coastal lagoon complex in South Australia, which is part of a terminal wetland at the mouth of the River Murray. An increased salinity associated with lower water levels and progressive isolation from ocean flushes contributed to a severe decline in ecological diversity over the past decades. Here we have conducted a molecular and stable isotopic study of a sedimentary core from the northern Coorong Lagoon spanning more than 5000 years to investigate the recent palaeoenvironmental history of the ecosystem. Major alterations were evident in many biogeochemical parameters in sediments deposited after the 1950s coinciding with the beginning of intensified water regulations. The most prominent shift occurred in δ13C profiles of C21–C33n-alkanes from average values of −23.5‰ to an average of −28.2‰.Further changes included decreases in carbon preference index (CPI) and average chain length (ACL) of the n-alkane series as well as significant increases in algal (e.g. C20 HBI, long chain alkenes and C29-alkadiene) and bacterial (e.g. 13C depleted short chain n-alkanes and hopanoids, δ13C: −35.9‰ to −30.1‰) derived hydrocarbons. Long chain n-alkanes with a strong odd/even predominance as observed here are typically attributed to terrigenous plants. In the Coorong however, terrigenous input to sedimentary OM is only minor. Therefore changes in the before mentioned parameters were attributed to a source transition from a major contribution of macrophytes towards predominantly microalgae and bacteria.δD values of C21–C33n-alkanes showed a general trend towards more enriched values in younger sediments, indicating an overall rising salinity. However, the most pronounced positive shift in these profiles again occurred after the 1950s. Altogether this study demonstrates that the recent human induced changes of the Coorong hydrology, compounded by a severe drought led to an increase in salinity and alterations of primary production which have been much more significant than natural variations occurring throughout the Holocene over several thousands of years